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(No Model.)

D. 0. SPRUANOE & M. WADDELL.

ELECTROMAGNETIC 011101111 BREAKER. No. 593,167.

Patented Nov. 2,1897.

TN! Nonms germs co., wo uuwu, WASHXNGTON, n. c.

rTED STATES ArENr .@FMGE,

DANIEL O. SPRUANOE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, AND MONTGOM- ERYVVADDELL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNORS TO THE SENTINEL ELECTRICCOMPANY, OF WILMINGTON, DELAWARE.

ELECTROMAGNETIC-CIRCUIT BREAKER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 593,167, dated November2, 1897.

Application filed January 25, 1897. Serial No. 620,532. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: 8, forming a part of the circuit. The clipBe it known that we, DANIEL O. SPRUANOE, nearest the binding-post a isconductively a citizen of the United States, residing at connectedtherewith bya lug 11 Above the Philadelphia, in the county ofPhiladelphia upper clip is placed an electromagnet 0011- 5 and State ofPennsylvania, and MONTGOMERY sistin g of a core e and a coil 6. The coreis VVADDELL, a subject of the Queen of Great in the form of a ring orother closed figure Britain, residing at New York, in the county havinga segment removedto determine the of New York and State of New York,have location of its poles and the operating posiinvented certain newand useful Improvetion of the armature. This openingis made 10 ments inElectrom'agnetic-Circuit Breakers, in the upper outer side of the ring.The core of which the following is a full, clear, and exconsists of aseries of thin plates of soft iron act description. confined between twoend plates 6 6 which This invention relates to electromagneticlatterhave extending brackets 6 by which circuit breakers, the primary objectbeing to the core is secured to the base A. The coil I 5 provide anapparatus that will positively open e consists of several turns of barewire coiled an electric circuit under certain prearranged about the corein such a manner as not to conditions in such a manner that there cantouch each other nor the core. One terminal be no possibility of thecircuit being com of the coil connects with the clip Z), while pleted orleft in such acondition as will cause the other terminal leads through asuitable 20 an arc to be formed by the accidental return opening and agroove in the base A to the to position of the section of the circuitwherebinding-post a. in the opening is made. The armature of the magnetis represented A further object is to provide a sensitive by f. It issupported at the extremities of instrument, one easily and accuratelyadj usttwo arms f, pivoted at their opposite ends 2 5 able to operateunder variouscurrent-amperupon a shaft 9. The armature normally ages,and one which may be readily reset after stands Within the inclosure ofthe core and having operated. the arms f straddle the core. The armatureThe invention consists, first, in the method is supported in its normalor retracted posiof opening acircuit by mechanically breaking tion by anarm h, attached at one end to the 0 out a section thereof from betweentwo tershaft g and engaging with a ratchet 11 at its minals; second, incertain latch-and-trigger other end. This arm has a kink or bend hmechanisms, and, third, in the details of conin it, by compressing thesides of which the struction. arm may be slightly shortened to changeits The invention is illustrated in the accompoint of engagement withthe ratchet and 3 5 panying drawings, in whichthus alter the distance ofthe armature from Figure l is afront elevation of the improved thepoles. 1A brass frame'l, consisting of two circuit-breaker, and Fig. 2is a side elevation plates secured to the opposite sides of the of thesame. core of the magnet, is used to support the Referring to thedrawings by letter, A repshaft 9, the ratchet-i, and another shaft j. 4oresents a base of insulating material, such as The ratchet is formeddirectly in an exten- 9: slate or marble, upon which the parts of thesion 1" from this frame, the extension flankcircuit-breaker are mounted.ing both sides of the core and the teeth being a and a are twobinding-posts to which the out in each at corresponding points. A scale,wires of the circuit are connected and beas will be seen, is marked uponthe ratchet 5 tween which the instrument is interposed. for the purposeof indicating where the arm 5 Upon the face of the base and along itscenit should be set to determine when the cirtral yertical line arepermanently mounted ouit-breaker shall perform its function of twoterminal clips I) and'l'), respectively, proopening the circuit. Thefigures of the scale vided with rectangular openings near their willindicate a graduation of amperes of our- 50 outer ends adapted toreceive a metallic bar rent at any point between the limits of which I00the armature may be set to alter the attractive distance between magnetand armature.

0 indicates a latch-lever in the form of a yoke. Its two arms embracethe magnetcore and are pivoted at their extremities upon the ends of theshaftj. The cross connection of the yoke stands in behind themagnet-core near the base A and carries a tailpiece 0', projectingdownward from its middle point and having a slightly curved or hookedend 0 The outer extremities of the yoke have eccentric hooks 0 formedthereupon, and these, for the sake of strength and rigidity, areconnected together by a cross-bar 0.

1) is a lever performing the functions of a trigger. It is pivoted uponthe shaft 9 and has an outwardly-reachii1g arm terminating in afinger-piece p and an inwardly-reaching arm provided with a shoulder 11and a hook p, the latter being located in the same vertical plane as thetailpiece 0' on the yoke or latch lever. The outwardly-reaching arm isprovided with a lug 1)", extending into the space between thepole-pieces of the magnet core.

0' is a yoke of heavy stiff wire, which we will call the hammer. Itsterminals are coiled up into two heavy springs 0- r, the ends of whichare firmly secured into the base A. These two springs are placed in linewith each other upon opposite sides of the magnet-core near the base andare held in place by a transverse rod 9' extending through the sideplates supporting the core of the magnet and lying against the innersurface of the springs on each side. The tendency of the spring is toforce the ham mer toward the face of the base A, and in this positionthe hammer rests upon two rubber cushions t t. The radial length of thehammer is such that it will swing midway between the two clips I) I) andwill engage with the hooks 0 on the latch-lever.

The metallic bar 5, hereinbefore referred to, forms a section of thecircuit interposed between the clips Z) and Z). This bar is adapted tobe broken by the hammer in such a way as to absolutely remove a sectionof it from between the two fixed clips, and to this end it is formedwith a number of transverse weakening-grooves .5 to determine where itshall be broken. IVe prefer to have three of these grooves and toarrange one of them near the middle point of the bar and the other tworespectively adjacent to the clips, so that the blow delivered by thehammer near the middle point of the bar will fracture it at three pointsand remove a section of the circuit in two pieces. This precludes thepossibility of the removed section from rebounding or otherwiseaccidentally ridging the two clips and so closing or partially closin gthe circuit immediately after it has been opened. This obviously wouldbe accom plished if the bar were broken into any num ber of pieces abovetwo, and consequently the invention comprehends not only the removal ofa section of the circuit from between two fixed terminals, but also thebreaking up of the removed section into a plurality of pieces.

The operation of the circuit-breaker is as follows: The normal positionof the parts is shown in Fig. 2, wherein it will be seen that the hammerhas been elevated and is held against the tension of its springs by thehooks 0, the latch-yoke 0 being locked by contact with the shoulder p onthe trigger. lVhen the current in the circuit rises to a predeterminedmaximum, the strength of the magnet becomes sufficient to lift thearmature into the gap between the two poles of the magnet-core and causeit to strike a blow against the lug p on the trigger and swing the innerend of the trigger outward, thus releasing the yoke and allowing thehooks o to tilt downward su flicientl y to free the ham me r. Thesprings controlling the hammer cause it to make a quick powerful strokeacross the middle of the bar 5: and shatter it along the weakened lines,thus mechanically removing a section of the circuit bodily from betweenthe two terminals 1) Z). After fracturing the bar the hammer comes torest upon the cushions t if. The tilting of the yoke o to release thehammer causes the inner end of the yoke to rise until the hookedextremity of the tailpiece 0 passes above the hook p on the trigger,which latter then passes under the end of the tail piece and holds theinner end of the latch-yoke in its elevated position. This is convenientin rescttingthc instrument, for in this position the eccentric hooks oare tilted to permit the hammer to pass behind them. The hannner havingpassed the hooks, it is carried slightly beyond to strike and lift theouter end of the trigger and so remove hook p from the tailpiece of thelatch, allowing it to drop to carry the hooks in front of the lever, inwhich position it again becomes locked by engagement with the shoulder17 and will sustain the hammer.

Having thus described our invention, we claim- 1. The method of openingan electric cir cuit which consists in mechanically breakin out by ahammenblow a section of the circuit from between two terminals, andsimulta neously breaking the removed section into a plurality of parts.

2. In an electric-circuit breaker, the combination of a breakable barforming a section of the circuit and a hammer adapted to strike andbreak said bar,substantially as described.

In an electric-circuit breaker, the combination of a breakable bar.t'orminga section of the circuit, a hammer adapted to strike and breaksaid bar and an clectromaguet controlling said hammer, substantially asdescribed.

t. In an electric-circuitbreaker, the combi- IIO ing the latch and anelectromagnet Whose armature is adapted to operate the trigger,substantially as described. 7

5. In an electromagnetic-circuit breaker the combination of thebreakable bar forming a section of the circuit, a hammer adapted tostrike and. break said bar, a latch supporting said hammer in positionto strike, a trigger adapted to hold the latch in its operative positionand to release the same, a detent for the latch adapted to hold it inits inoperative position, and an electromagnet whose armature operatesthe trigger, for the purpose set forth.

6. In an electromagnetic-circuit breaker, the combination of a breakablebar forming a section of a circuit, a hammer adapted to strike and breaksaid bar, a latch supporting said hammer in position to strike, atrigger provided with two detents, one adapted to sustain the latch inits operative position and the other to sustain it in its inoperativeposition and an electromagnet whose armature operates the trigger.

7. In a circuit-breaker an electromagnet having a ring, or otherclosed-shaped core whose armature-space is formed by removing a segmentthereof, an armature for said magnet normally located within said ring,a trigger projecting into the armature-space and adapted to be moved bythe armature, a latch controlled by the trigger and a circuit-conintothe armature-space, for the purpose setforth.

9. In an electrorhagnetic-circuit breaker an electromagnet having a ringor other shaped core, a segment of which is removed to form thearmature-space, an armature located Within said ring, a pivoted armnormally supporting the armature and a ratchet sustaining said arm andalong which it is adjustable, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

10. In a circuit-breaker, a breakable bar forming a section of thecircuit, a spring-op erated hammer in the form of a'yoke, thecross-piece of which is. adapted to strike and fracture the said strip.

In testimony whereof We subscribe our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

DANIEL C. SPRUANOE. MONTGOMERY WADDELL. Witnesses:

FRANK S. OBER, HARRY BAILEY.

